Here goes...again!

Micilin Muc

Happy Birthiversary!

Bally8

Micilin Muc wrote: »

Happy Birthiversary!

Ha ha thanks Micilin, it wasnt planned that way I can tell you. For those of you who werent reading my log 2 years ago I'll fill ye in. We spent 2 years planning our wedding. The date was supposed to be 20th April in Las Vegas but then of course a bloody volcanoe erupted and we were stuck here while a lot of our guests got stuck over there with no wedding to go to. Wedding in Vegas cancelled. Trip to court in Clonmel a few days later new wedding happened in Nenagh registery office (not exactly the Viva Las Vegas Wedding Chapel) on the 30th April.

So from now on I will celebrate a birthiversary instead of just a birthday

claralara

Huge congrats on the race missus! So so so deserved! Well done you; delighted you are finally getting the returns you deserve after those stinking injuries

Bally8

Thursday 3rd May
Swim session first today. Just swam, nothing fancy. Used my new lap counter for the first time. Handy as my mind wanders and I usually forget what lap Im on. Just need to remember to press the button each lap now:) 62 lengths in total.

After lunch I took the dog up to Coum forest for the first time since March. It was a glorious day, I was in heaven. I carried a backpack for the first time and it didnt bother me too much. I wanted to have used it at least once before next weekends race. 6.5 hilly miles, stop starty with plenty walk breaks up the tougher bits. 5.2 miles running total. No achilles pain to report.

Saturday 5th May
First club cycle in a month. They are no longer beginner cycles, the pace has been increased to 17+ mph average. I found it very tough today. Even though I took my turn at the front for a while I spent most of the cycle hanging on for dear life and was finally dropped a few miles from home. Still its great training and I'm glad I went out. 62.5 kms total

Bally8

Sunday 6th May
Started the day with a family walk up Tountinne. My daughter totally surprised me by not moaning once and even running bits. I thought she would struggle but it was no bother to her.

6pm - Club OW Swim No.2. Thank god it was much calmer and warmer at the lake this week. I took insink and Dory's advice and slowly lowered myself into the water instead of jumping straight in. No hyperventilation this time so it was much easier to breath and just be calm in the water. My aim was to just get my head under and swim properly for a few meters. That would be a success. Delighted to say I managed to do it and actually do it much more than I expected. I only managed about 170m (total guess really) but Im very happy with that- its progress. The pros in the group did a mile:eek:

Monday 7th May
20 minute treadmill run followed by 40 mins on the turbo then back on treadmill for 10 mins. Nice sweaty session.

Tuesday 8th May
First cycle with the North Tipp Wheelers. Well it was actually mostly my tri club members who showed up tonight so it wasnt as scary as I had expected it to be. The pace of these cycles are faster than my club cycle so I was nervous about being able to keep up. Thankfully M decided to come too so we were both beginners together. We stayed at the back but managed to hang on to the group for an hour and a half. Then they took off like bullets and we were left for dust. We kept going along at a good pace though and finished the cycle in just over 2 hours. 36 miles total - pretty pleased with myself

Wedesday 9th May
Managed to fit a quick run in during work today (gotta love my job) 2.08 miles in 20 mins. Decided to take it easy. Big race coming up on Saturday.

insinkerator

OW swimming, in ways, is like learning to swim all over again :rolleyes:. We'll get there eventually

Gooooooood luck on Saturday!!

Dory Dory

Bally8, you mentioned a good sweaty session of treadmill, turbo, treadmill...which is similar to the session I did tonight that was awesome. I really like mixing up the bike and treadmill in small, fast bites.

Is this weekend another tri? Which one?

Bally8

Dory Dory wrote: »

Bally8, you mentioned a good sweaty session of treadmill, turbo, treadmill...which is similar to the session I did tonight that was awesome. I really like mixing up the bike and treadmill in small, fast bites.

Is this weekend another tri? Which one?

Ya I have to agree dory, it was fun to mix it up like that. I'll definitely be doing it like that more often.

MrBally8 and I are doing our first proper adventure (multisport for the more sensitive to correct naming) race. The Connemara Adventure Challenge. Again its a run, cycle, kayak, run affair. Should be a tough day but we are looking forward to getting away for the weekend and its sooo beautiful up round that part of the country.


As for todays training - it was very short. A 35 minute hybrid cycle. Gosh its been so long since I've been on it. She is so big and heavy and clunky compared to my sleek felt road bike. The bike section of the race on Sat is through forestry trails so not a good idea to bring the good bike unless you are a pro. Maybe I shouldnt have left it till today to do some training on it:)

Anyways tomorrow is taken up with dropping the dog to the kennels and our daughter to my aunts then travelling up to Galway so no time really for any training. I've decided not to take a weekend away from techology so I wont be logging on here until we get back on Sunday. How will I survive???

Dory Dory

Connemara is a beautiful area. Good luck to you and Mr. B, and have fun!!!!

Nules10

Better wish you good luck now so Enjoy the Race/adventure thingy me bob... multisport yoke ahh ya know what i mean . Enjoy the scenery too bally8 and good luck to the hubby too

Marthastew

Best of luck to you both:)

littlebug

Good luck B8:) Looking forward to the report already !

Younganne

Enjoy your weekend away...the race will just be a bonus;)

RubyK

Best of luck with the race Bally8. Enjoy

Bally8

Connemara Adventure Challenge
Ok I'm going to try my best to keep this short:).
We headed up to Killary on Friday. Wow its so beautiful there. Registered no problems, checked into the adventure centre and cycled the 2.9k to the bike transition to leave our bikes there over night. Got a shuttle bus back:eek: lazy feickers!!

No sleep as it was sooo noisy all night in K2. Well I'd say I got 2 hours uninterrupted in the end. Still I'm used to not sleeping much the night before a race so it didnt bother me too much. The big advantage of staying in the centre was the proximity to the start line. We went and watched the first wave then back to our room to get ready for ours.

10.30 and we were off the over 200 others. Straight into the bog. I never actually realised what a bog run meant. I thought it was a bit of a muddy run then onto a trail or something alongside the bog. Nope- it was never ending mucky wet slodge. How silly we were bringing spare socks incase ours got wet- they were soaked within 10 seconds of starting! I found the bog run tough but the climb to the summit of the mountain was total torture. Mr.Bally8 was in his element though, he was loving it but was a great husband and waited for me. Then the descent was totally rotten for me, I hated every second if it. I was terrified and crawled down. My confidence totally knocked by all the people passing me out. Again Mr.Bally8 loved it and had taken off at breakneck speed but waited for ages for me in the bike transition.

Even then I wasnt happy. I hadnt any real training done on the hybrid and even then it was all on road. The first 8k were off road on rocky, potholed, muddy terrifying tracks and I wanted to give up I was so scared. Then something took over me and I decided that the best thing to do was go as fast as possible to get out of there. So I upped the pace and passed out Mr.Bally8 and lots of others. Again my hill training really stood to me and that's where I over took most people. Once out on the main road I was happy to be back in my comfort zone and over took 15 people in the 8k to the transition.

1k run to the kayak time out where I waited for Mr.Bally8 to catch up and off we went for the 2k kayak together. Where we promptly had a huge fight a la our honeymoon two years ago!! Managed to get over it pretty quickly though and from then on we got into a rhythm and finished the kayak in 18.21 (pretty good time if I say so myself:))

The came the road run. Hubby was suffering by then so we took it as his pace and had a few walking breaks. Then the had the final mountain run followed by a last dash through the bog. We overtook a nice few people here and were delighted to see we would probably finish well under our 4 hour predicted time. Of course once I saw the finish line from about 1k out I couldnt hold back any longer and ran like a loon, slipping, sliding all over the bog to finish in 3.22 something. Very very happy with that.

We will def be back next year. The plan is no more of this waiting for each other stuff. Next year it is all out war to the finish line:D

digger2d2

Bally8 wrote: »

Connemara Adventure Challenge
Ok I'm going to try my best to keep this short

Well you failed

Bally8

We made it!!

Bally8

digger2d2 wrote: »

Well you failed

Ha ha I actually think that is short!!

menoscemo

Bally8 wrote: »

The plan is no more of this waiting for each other stuff. Next year it is all out war to the finish line:D

Nules10

Well done to the two of you. Great going. Great pic of you at the end.

Dory Dory

Once again, epic report and excellent job in the muck and mud! Love the elated photo of you and Mr. Bally8!

Bally8

menoscemo wrote: »

Love it

jcsmum

That's a great photo of you both. Well done.

Bally8

Monday 14th May
Swim after work. All front crawl again. I did a few lengths warm up then decided to do sets of 10 timed. Cant remember all the times now but the first one was 6:11 and the second 6:09. Next 2 sets were slower. Happy having something to focus on and not just straight lengths up and down the pool. Will def do this session again. Would love to get the times down. 1300m in total

Tuesday 15th May
Wheelers cycle this evening. I think the pace was even quicker this week from the outset. M and I just hung on at the back and peddled as if our lives depended on it. Tough going. We hung on for 40k but then the hills came and the pack seemed to up the pace. We lost them but kept pushing out own pace. 58k total in just over 2 hours. I'm loving these cycles. I know they are really helping me get strong and faster on the bike.

Thursday 16th May
Some of the girls from the tri club were going to the lake for a swim at 8.30 so I decided to go as I had missed the club session last Sunday. There were only 5 of us in the end and wow it was freezing!!! Luckily though the lake was flat calm for a change and I had my best session yet. Finally managed to reach the boat that is about 150m out then went to the first buoy then on to the second and back again. Delighted with myself:D Still a long way to go with getting my stroke, sighting and confidence right but I'm happy to see improvements already.


I think I will only be walking the dog today. Its probably best I rest up a bit. I'm going on a club outing this weekend. We are cycling from Nenagh to Lahinch (100kms), sea swim for an hour, 8 mile run, night out, 5k run the following morning then cycle back to Nenagh. I'm a bit scared I might die!:eek:

Bally8

So since I last updated-

Saturday 19th May 102.5kms cycled. Club weekend away in Lahinch. It was so much fun. I had a ball. 26 of us cycled from Nenagh to Lahinch with a few little stops along the way. My longest cycle ever by miles. It was tough at times but not as tough as I thought it would be. Nenagh Tri is a great club. Some of those girls and lads give you so much help and encouragement even when you are slowing everyone up.

Once we found our lodgings we had lunch and then quickly threw the wetsuits on for a sea swim. Thank god it was almost flat calm. Not that the surfers appreciated it! I was very frustrated during this swim. Most of the people there are strong swimmers and I am still a disaster. I couldnt keep up with them but worse than that I couldnt swim in any kind of straight line and kept zig-zagging. Drove me mad really.

After the swim we put on the running gear and headed off. Some of the group headed off on an 8 mile run. I managed a 2 mile run/walk and had to give up. I was totally wrecked.

Shower, dinner then boozing and dancing non-stop like maniacs for 2 hours. Best night out dancing in years.

Sunday 20th May
Sore sore heads and bodies meant this mornings planned 5k run was abondoned and we all headed off back to Nenagh at about 10.30. I found the cycle back very tough at times. I fell off the back of the group for a while going over the hills out of Sixmilebridge but thankfully a few had waited for me and I eventually found my second wind. Back home in one piece. Delighted with myself:D

Tuesday 22nd May
Tri Club TT No1. My first ever time trial. The plan was to take it easy after the weekends adventure but of course once the TT started I pushed myself as much as I could and was delighted to finish fastest woman (out of 5:)) in 28.59 for 9.1 miles. Hope to take a minute off that next week.

Wednesday 23rd May
Club OW swim. Really worked on my sighting tonight and started to see a bit of improvement. 550 m done. Slow slow progress but still progress.

Thursday 24th May
Pool swim. I've only been swimming 3 times in the pool this month so thought it important to get back at it. Nice slow steady 10x50 then 10x100. A few slow lengths to finish off.

We brought the dog to the lake to enjoy the fab weather this afternoon. Lovely way to spend a day off. Mr.Bally8 drove doggie home and I decided to run. Wow it was hot out there. 5.5k nice and slow. Felt great to be back running. I miss it.

Friday 25th May
Busy day at work today + lovely weather = rest day.

We have a club triathlon tomorrow. Im in two minds about doing it. I will be my first open water triathlon and Im not sure Im ready for it yet. Also it takes me about 5 minutes to get out of my wetsuit, cant imagine how long it would take me in a race. I have a bit of a tummy bug I think too and Im doing the Tour of Lough Derg cycle on Sunday (120kms). Will probably decide what to do in the morning.

earnyourturns

You. Are. A. Machine. These. Days.

Younganne

Fair play to you...lots going on there!!:D

jcsmum

Somebody's been busy

Bally8

earnyourturns wrote: »

You. Are. A. Machine. These. Days.

Ha ha thanks eyt. I definitel dont feel like a machine right now:)

I ended up taking yesterday off so I could be in good shape for today's Tour of Lough Derg. Who am I kidding? I found it beyond tough out there today. It was a huge knock to my confidence. I probably shouldnt have gone out with the fast group but the other group would have been too slow at 14mph. God I struggled the whole way round the lake. Yuck it was just awful. Lesson learned. First cycle tour done- not in a hurry to do another. At least the Ring of Kerry will be at a leisurely pace.

120kms in 4:25.

RacoonQueen

Seriously, you're disheartened? That's about 27kph. That's super going A.

You seem to be well able for the bike.